When it comes to the senses, the garden at Driftwood by sea really does wake your sense of smell. Fragrant plants can add a whole new dimension to the enjoyment of your garden. They are ideal plants for smaller gardens too, where the scent of their flowers or foliage can permeate the whole plot.
Fruity fragrance
I reckon the question I have been asked most since 2009, when I first opened my garden to the public is what the smell is at the end of the central path by the dining room door! Almost without exception, visitors reckon I’m growing cannabis at that point in the plot. I’ve read that cannabis has a distinct scent that can be similar to many other plants and in many cases, it can be recognised by its spicy, pleasant and rich aroma. Some varieties also have a sweet or fruity aroma. Supposedly, once you’ve smelt it, it’s easy to recognise elsewhere. All I can say is that never having tried the drug, let alone smelt it, I am always thrown by their comments. The nearest plants to that point, with a strong smell are the pots of euphorbia mellifera which offer up a honey flavoured smell. I’m never quite sure if they believe me though!
Fragrant Plants
- For the last few years, I’ve had a large trough of lavender growing alongside the large patio at the top of the garden. There are three Lavandula angustifolia ‘Munstead’ (main image) growing well. This is a popular, compact evergreen shrub, to 45cm tall, with aromatic, narrow, grey-green foliage and spikes of small, highly-fragrant, blue-purple flowers in mid to late summer. It’s a great feature and being planted in a container means that I can move it around the garden too if needed. A great bonus is that the plant is very drought tolerant as well.
- Coronilla valentina glauca (also called the shrubby scorpion vetch) is a really pretty shrub that I have grown in both the front and back gardens. I have a large shrub growing through an old lobster pot and hanging over the large black rowing boat behind it. The shrub will light up a sheltered position with an abundance of lemon-yellow, pea-like blooms. It flowers profusely from December through to mid spring and the sweetly scented blooms make this a useful shrub for bringing colour to those dull winter days. The small blue-green foliage is evergreen, providing a fine backdrop for its fragrant display. This versatile shrub is perfectly hardy in most UK locations, but performs particularly well in a sheltered, sunny spot, even in difficult coastal areas like my garden on the south coast. Its compact, rounded habit makes it ideal for borders and patio containers too. It can also be trained as a wall shrub for a spectacular upright display as well.
- Another scented favourite in the garden are the ever-popular hyacinths which are renowned for their highly fragrant blooms. These spring bulbs are widely grown as houseplants but I have several in both the ground and in containers in my garden. They’re very easy and quick to grow, producing large flower heads in a variety of shades ranging from blue, white and pink, through to deep red, purple and even yellow. The sturdy flower stems are packed with waxy, tubular flowers that form a dense, elongated head, typically 25cm (10in) tall. The blooms are surrounded by thick, upright green leaves.
- Hydrangea petiolaris is a great plant with pretty white flowers. This climbing hydrangea thrives in some of the most shady, inhospitable areas of the garden. It can be very slow to establish, but will eventually romp along a wall or fence, clinging by aerial roots. It’s almost heart-shaped, dark green leaves turn yellow in autumn, and masses of showy, lacy, white flower heads appear in late spring and early summer. These stunning blooms are not only beautiful but also sweetly fragrant, making them a delightful addition to the garden.
Background garden noise
Now, turning our thoughts to sounds in the garden, there can be no better background noise than the sound of tinkling water. If I’m being honest, it is not something I really thought about when creating my garden but, over time I have added several water features to the plot. The original garden had a large pond with three trickle ponds and I installed a fountain, not long after we moved in. I fell in love with the gentle, tinkling sound of water. This was replaced a couple of years ago by the gorgeous corten steel feature, which I always turn on when I’m working in the garden, even in the depths of winter, providing there is no ice on it, as I love to hear it running.
Another wonderful garden sound has to be the whistling of birds across the plot. I’m very lucky to see a range of them darting across the garden with many nesting in the boundary hedgerows. We tend to see more robins than anything else. Being a coastal garden there is always the inevitable sound of the seagulls overhead too.
Of course scent and sound are not the only senses that can be appreciated in the garden, there are many plants that are really tactile too. By far my favourite is the stunning Stipa tenuissimaor pony tail grass. It is the perfect grass to plant alongside a path so you can stroke your hand across it as you pass. I have quite a lot planted in my beach garden, like the one pictured.
By choosing plants that are good for senses, you can improve your mood and a general wellbeing of you and your family, and in my case my many visitors. The sensory attributes of these plants allow people to engage with the environment around them in a way that is meaningful and beneficial to their mind and body.
